Wednesday January 30, 2013 Day 24 Finished Madejski Stadium

Reading 2 - 2 Chelsea

  • Le Fondre 87’, 90’
  • Mata 45’
  • Lampard 66’

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  1. Premier League - Comeback kings Reading stun Chelsea

    Premier League - Comeback kings Reading stun Chelsea

    Reading and Adam Le Fondre produced another Houdini act to stun Chelsea with a 2-2 home draw in the Premier League. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Reading
    • Chelsea
    • FULL TIME: Reading 2-2 Chelsea. What a game and what a finish! Thanks for joining us.
    • 90+6' Azpilicueta goes into the book as play goes on. Surely all over now!
    • 90+5' GOAL Reading!! The crowd goes wild. And it’s Le Fondre again with virtually the last kick of the game. Reading are never beaten. Kebe headed on to Akpan and his header was volleyed in by Le Fondre. What a finish!
    • 90+4' Akpan plays in a dangerous ball but Turnbull gratefully grabs it. One more free kick for Reading...
    • 90+3' Chelsea taking time with the throw in and eating up more time. The Reading fans don’t like it but back come their side...
    • 90+2' Chelsea sub: Torres off to boos as Ba comes on.
    • 90+1' Pogrebnyak strays offside but still time for Reading to pull one back.
    • 90' Ivanovic hoofs clear as Chelsea prepare to bring on Ba. FIVE MINUTES of stoppage time.
    • 89' It’s out for a Chelsea throw and they’re eating up time. Ramires is down injured and he will get treatment.
    • 88' It was a lovely ball from Akpan and Le Fondre arced his run beautifully and it was a lovely finish. They have another free kick!
    • 87' GOAL READING! And the magic man Le Fondre scores with three minutes to go! Great escape again?
    • 85' Lovely ball from Benayoun to Oscar but Federici saves the shot with his legs. Good keeping!
    • 84' Federici bombs one forward towards Le Fondre but Cahill recovers to clear. It falls back to Le Fondre and he curls it wide. A third shot though!
    • 83' Cahill’s made of tough stuff. A bit of the magic water bottle and he’s up again. Terry warming up in case.
    • 82' Cahill has taken a right clattering to the head from McCleary. That was a nasty clash of heads.
    • 81' Akpan shoots from distance but it’s wide. It counts as reading’s second effort at goal though.
    • 80' It’s been another fine performance from Mata. Chelsea’s best player by a margin. Lampard too has played well though.
    • 79' Chelsea sub: Mata off for Benayoun.
    • 78' Pogrebnyak fouled by Cahill. Free kick and a chance to put some pressure on. Le Fondre gets on the end of it but heads over Harte’s cross. First chance at goal for Reading!
    • 77' Reading sub: Akpan on for Karacan
    • 76' GOAL ATTEMPTS: Reading 0-12 Chelsea
    • 75' Shot comes in from Torres but it’s high, wide and handsome. That’s more like the Torres we know!
    • 74' Oscar feeds Bertrand down the left and he wins Chelsea a corner. Some tired Reading legs now.
    • 73' Le Fondre has barely had a touch since coming on. But he never needs too many...
    • 72' Torres so nearly finds Mata through the middle but for a last gasp tackle. You sense more for Chelsea here.
    • 71' Oscar plays in Torres who is flagged just offside as he shoots at Federici. Very tight.
    • 70' Great ball from Oscar to Mata on the right but his right foot shot does not match the quality of the ball.
    • 68' Reading must go for it now but they don’t want it to become an embarrassing scoreline.
    • 67' McAnuff the man to make way for Le Fondre for Reading. It really would be a great escape for the home side now.
    • 66' Chelsea looking rampant suddenly as Lampard comes forward again and fires a shot just wide.
    • 65' That’s the cushion Chelsea wanted as Le Fondre comes on.
    • 64' GOAL CHELSEA! Lampard scores direct with a header from Mata’s corner. Typically powerful header.
    • 63' Le Fondre is about to come on for Reading.
    • 62' Cole fouls Kebe. Harte plays in the free kick but Ramires heads away. Reading picking up the play.
    • 61' A game of very few clear cut opportunities tonight, a far cry from the open game at Stamford Bridge that finished 4-2 to Chelsea after they came from two goals down.
    • 60' ATTEMPTS: Reading 0-9 Chelsea
    • 59' Ramires concedes a free kick and Harte plays it forward. McCleary wins a throw off Azpilicueta.
    • 58' Reading sub: Guthrie off for McCleary.
    • 57' Turnbull completely misses his punch but Pogrebnyak is caught offside.
    • 56' Oscar perhaps had more time than he realised and could even have squared to Torres. Easy with hindsight though.
    • 55' CHANCE! Great ball from Lampard and Oscar brings it down beautifully on his chest before swivelling and shooting just wide. Great play and a good chance.
    • 54' McAnuff does well on the left to deliver a good cross to Kebe at the far stick but Cole does just enough to put him off.
    • 53' Reading win a free kick from Ivanovic as Terry starts warming up. Harte delivers and Chelsea clear.
    • 52' Bertrand fouls Mariappa in the box, pulling his arm back. Free kick to Reading.
    • 51' Torres has started the half brightly. Perhaps Ba will stay on the bench? Not likely you feel!
    • 50' More good work from Torres on the right and he whips in another good cross. Reading clear.
    • 49' Lampard lines it up but cannons his free kick straight into the wall. Disappointing.
    • 48' Torres fouled by Pearce. Free kick to Chelsea in a good attacking area.
    • 47' Torres shows a burst of pace to latch onto a through ball and gets a decent cross in from the byline. Reading clear the danger. Better from the Spaniard.
    • 46' Reading have stages dramatic comebacks to beat Newcastle and West Brom in their last two matches. Can they find another or perhaps do it earlier!
    • 45' We’re back underway here at The Madejski. Reading will feel mightily hard done by. Perhaps McDermott will roll the dice soon. No changes at the break.
    • Ba and Terry on the bench for Chelsea. Is Rafa playing it right? How long before Brian McDermott brings on the in-form Adam Le Fondre? Tweet me @fmasefield.
    • HALF TIME: Reading 0-1 Chelsea.
    • 45+1' GOAL CHELSEA! Would you believe it. A lovely little flicked pass from Torres and Mata finished clinically with his left foot.
    • 45' We have one added minute to this disappointing first half.
    • 44' Kebe looks for McAnuff but Lampard shepherds it out for a goal kick. Mata offside.
    • 43' Foul by Lampard on Pogrebnyak. Free kick and a chance to throw numbers forward.
    • 42' A terrible pass from Azpilicueta again goes out for a Reading throw. Frustration building for Chelsea. Cole tries his luck from distance but again it’s way off target.
    • 41' Great balance from Mata who finds Oscar. He touches it to Torres who fires his shot in out for a throw! Great build-up, woeful finish!
    • 40' Pogrebnyak fouled by Ramires who goes into the book to the cheers of the home fans.
    • 39' Harte gallops forward but gives it away to Ramires. Mata tries to pick out Ramires again but Harte covers back well.
    • 38' This Chelsea performance so far won’t endear Rafa Benitez to the Chelsea fans. Ivanovic concedes a free kick.
    • 37' Torres chests it off to Bertrand but his left shot is woefully wide, not far from the corner flag!
    • 36' Harte tries to set Pogrebnyak away but he is flagged just offside. Good work from Cahill.
    • 35' Chelsea have never lost to Reading in the Premier League. The last league win for the Royals was in 1930! Kebe concedes a free kick.
    • 34' Mata plays it in but again it’s easy for the Reading defence to clear.
    • 33' John Terry and Demba Ba watch on from the stands. Terry won’t feature but we are likely to see Ba at some stage. Mata wins a free kick from Leigertwood.
    • 32' Guthrie concedes a free kick on the half for a challenge on Mata way line after Reading should have had a goal kick themselves.
    • 31' Federici probably hasn’t had a quieter half hour all season!
    • 30' Despite that opportunity, Reading have acquitted themselves well. McAnuff wins a free kick.
    • 29' CHANCE! A free header for Cahill from Lampard’s free kick and he’s planted it wide from ten yards out. Best opportunity of the game and really he should have buried his seventh goal of the season.
    • 28' McAnuff is late on Oscar and that’s the first yellow card of the evening as Oscar writhes around in agony. He’s up quickly though.
    • 27' Credit to Reading’s marking so far. Still not a shot on target for either side.
    • 26' Lampard feeds Bertrand but Kebe wins the header in the box to clear the danger.
    • 25' Nice triangles between the Chelsea midfield but Torres fouls Pearce from Lampard’s through ball.
    • 24' Neither keeper yet to make a save in anger here. Midfields on top. Cahill wins a free kick after a push from Pogrebnyak.
    • 23' Mata appeals for a hand ball outside the box from Leigertwood but not much in that.
    • 22' Oscar finds Lampard in the box but his shot is blocked. Chelsea pressing.
    • 21' Lampard arrives in the box after Leigertwood lost out to Mata. Chelsea win a free kick. Reading clear the danger.
    • 20' Torres tumbles again under a challenge from Pearce but Torres was already flagged offside.
    • 19' POSSESSION: Reading 25%-75% Chelsea
    • 18' The Reading midfield are pressing Chelsea well to their credit. Torres chases a long ball through the middle and Federici is out well to grab it under pressure from Torres.
    • 17' Sloppy pass from Oscar finds Kebe but he can’t find Pogrebnyak and Chelsea have it again.
    • 16' Pogrebnyak tugs back Lampard in the Chelsea box and the visitors have another free kick. Not a lot happening at the moment.
    • 15' Guthrie has gone down after a challenge from Lampard that caught him on the shins. Free kick and Lampard apologises.
    • 14' Mata plays it to Cole and his optimistic long range shot drifts harmlessly over the bar.
    • 13' No real chances at either end so far as Torres wins a free kick from a challenge from Pearce.
    • 12' Pogrebnyak wins a free kick from a challenge from Ivanovic. Promising position now about 30 yards out. Guthrie plays it in but it’s out for a Chelsea goal kick.
    • 11' Probing cross from Kebe but nobody is there and it’s a little too long. Reading are holding their own.
    • 10' Ivanovic gives it away easily this time but Kebe is easily dispossessed by Cole.
    • 9' Mata looking predictably sharp in the centre of midfield already. Reading finding it hard to shackle him.
    • 8' Hart gives it away to Mata and he tries to put Torres away but Pearce does just enough. Sloppy from Harte.
    • 7' Torres concedes a free kick. Some surprise when he was picked to start ahead of Ba tonight.
    • 6' Another corner to Chelsea and Ivanovic heads wide from Mata’s delivery. Chelsea beginning to dominate possession.
    • 5' Lampard takes but Reading come away through McAnuff. He sprints 60 yards before losing the ball.
    • 4' Karacan concedes a corner to Chelsea. Mata drifts it in but Reading clear the danger. Kelly concedes another corner.
    • 3' Both teams setting up 4-5-1. Leigertwood has a job on his hands against Lampard, Ramires and Mata.
    • 2' Reading win the first free kick as Ivanovic fouls Pogrebnyak down the right wing. Bright start. The free kick drifts out past Turnbull for a goal kick.
    • 1' Referee Mark Halsey blows the whistle to get us underway here. He has awarded six penalties in 11 matches this season. Odd on another Lampard spot kick?
    • 19.55 Five minutes to kick off as The Cure's 'Friday I'm in Love' plays on the speakers. Match Odds: Reading 13/2, Draw 7/2, Chelsea 1/2.
    • 19.50 This will be Rafael Benitez’s 12th Premier League game in charge of Chelsea and he’s won 21 points so far. Roberto Di Matteo won 24 points in his 12 PL games in charge of the Blues this term.
    • 19.45 Even if Reading do score first, they have won only one of their eight Premier League games (13%) that they have scored the first goal of the game in this season.
    • 19.40 The stats don’t bode well for Reading. They have won just one point in their previous five Premier League meetings with Chelsea (D1 L4). Chelsea have scored the first goal of the game on more occasions than any other Premier League side this season (15).
    • 19.35 A win would put Chelsea just four points behind Manchester City after their draw at QPR last night. Reading are still second to bottom but a point could see them climb out of the drop zone on goal difference. Check out the Premier League table here.
    • 19.30 Brian McDermott on Tom Ince: "We are waiting for Blackpool to come back to us because we've made a bid. We shall see where that goes. He's a Blackpool player so it is difficult for me to talk about players that don't belong to us. Just talking about the player aside and the quality he has got - he can play in the number 10 position, or out wide on the right or left. He's got fantastic feet and he loves his football. He can score and create goals and has got a real hunger about him."
    • 19.25 Rafa Benitez: “It is difficult for us because we play a game every three days. I don’t know if we will get anyone in the transfer window. We’ve had conversations and now it depends on the club. We cannot bring back some of the players who are out on loan because we have an agreement that they will carry on for the rest of the season. The squad would be fine if we had everyone available. Hopefully the injured players will come back and the African Nations Cup will give us our players back soon."
    • 19.20 Reading led 2-1 in the reverse fixture until the 69th minute and eventually lost 4-2 at Stamford Bridge. They have lost a league-high 20 points from leading positions this season.
    • 19.15 TEAMS: READING: Federici; Harte, Kelly, Pearce, Mariappa; Leigertwood, Guthrie, Karacan, McAnuff (c), Kebe; Pogrebnyak. SUBS: Taylor, Shorey, Morrison, Akpan, Robson-Kanu, McCleary, Le Fondre /// CHELSEA: Chelsea: Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Cole, Cahill, Ivanovic; Bertrand, Ramires, Lampard (C), Mata, Oscar, Torres. SUBS: Hilario, Ferreira, Terry, Marin, Benayoun, Ake, Ba.
    • 19.10 CHELSEA TEAM NEWS: Petr Cech has failed to recover from injury in time. He has failed to shake off the calf strain that ruled him out of Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round draw at Brentford, with Ross Turnbull once again earmarked to deputise. David Luiz (calf) is still several days away from a return, while Eden Hazard serves the second instalment of his minimum three-match ban. Victor Moses is on African Nations Cup duty in Nigeria.
    • 19.05 READING TEAM NEWS: striker Jason Roberts will sit the match out while manager Brian McDermott has a concern over the fitness of Noel Hunt. Roberts has a hip problem while forward Hunt picked up an unspecified knock in Saturday's FA Cup win over Sheffield United. McDermott, who confirmed he was waiting to hear back from Blackpool regarding a bid for Thomas Ince, is unlikely to play new signing Daniel Carrico as he comes to terms with life in England.
    • 19.00 Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of tonight’s Premier League clash between Reading and Chelsea at the Madejski Stadium. Kick off 20.00 GMT. Premier League - Matchpack: Reading v Chelsea

  • Summary

    • 90+5' GOAL Reading!! The crowd goes wild. And it’s Le Fondre again with virtually the last kick of the game. Reading are never beaten. Kebe headed on to Akpan and his header was volleyed in by Le Fondre. What a finish!
    • 87' GOAL READING! And the magic man Le Fondre scores with three minutes to go! Great escape again?
    • 85' Lovely ball from Benayoun to Oscar but Federici saves the shot with his legs. Good keeping!
    • 84' Federici bombs one forward towards Le Fondre but Cahill recovers to clear. It falls back to Le Fondre and he curls it wide. A third shot though!
    • 78' Pogrebnyak fouled by Cahill. Free kick and a chance to put some pressure on. Le Fondre gets on the end of it but heads over Harte’s cross. First chance at goal for Reading!
    • 70' Great ball from Oscar to Mata on the right but his right foot shot does not match the quality of the ball.
    • 64' GOAL CHELSEA! Lampard scores direct with a header from Mata’s corner. Typically powerful header.
    • 55' CHANCE! Great ball from Lampard and Oscar brings it down beautifully on his chest before swivelling and shooting just wide. Great play and a good chance.
    • 54' McAnuff does well on the left to deliver a good cross to Kebe at the far stick but Cole does just enough to put him off.
    • 45+1' GOAL CHELSEA! Would you believe it. A lovely little flicked pass from Torres and Mata finished clinically with his left foot.
    • 41' Great balance from Mata who finds Oscar. He touches it to Torres who fires his shot in out for a throw! Great build-up, woeful finish!
    • 29' CHANCE! A free header for Cahill from Lampard’s free kick and he’s planted it wide from ten yards out. Best opportunity of the game and really he should have buried his seventh goal of the season.
    • 22' Oscar finds Lampard in the box but his shot is blocked. Chelsea pressing.
    • 19.15 TEAMS: READING: Federici; Harte, Kelly, Pearce, Mariappa; Leigertwood, Guthrie, Karacan, McAnuff (c), Kebe; Pogrebnyak. SUBS: Taylor, Shorey, Morrison, Akpan, Robson-Kanu, McCleary, Le Fondre /// CHELSEA: Chelsea: Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Cole, Cahill, Ivanovic; Bertrand, Ramires, Lampard (C), Mata, Oscar, Torres. SUBS: Hilario, Ferreira, Terry, Marin, Benayoun, Ake, Ba.

Team Line-up & Ratings

  • Line-up

    Live Team Line-Up

  • Rate Players

    Rate Players

    Please to rate the players.

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    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      4.4 8
      Defenders
      4.8 6
      4.4 7
      4.6 6
      5.3 6
      Midfielders
      4.9 7
      Substitution Out58′ 4.9 6
      5.5 7
      Substitution Out77′ 5.3 6
      Yellow Card Substitution Out67′ 5.5 6
      Strikers
      5.3 6
      Subs
      Substitution In67′ Goals ×2 7.1 9
      Substitution In58′ 4.3 6
      Substitution In77′ 5.2 7
    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      5.8 6
      Defenders
      Yellow Card 6.4 5
      7.2 6
      6.7 6
      7.4 6
      Midfielders
      Goal 8.2 7
      Yellow Card 7.5 6
      Goal Substitution Out77′ 8.1 8
      7.9 7
      6.6 5
      Strikers
      Substitution Out90′ 6.1 6
      Subs
      Substitution In77′ 6.3 6
      Substitution In90′ 7.2 6

Comment 150 - 170 of 170

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  1. Please Benitez , can you put more effort to salvage­ Chelsea please

    From Oboch, on Mon 4 Feb 8:59

  2. I wonder when Benitez will learn a simple lesson. An­ invaluable player like Mata should be allowed to play­ full 90 mins. Another error is, why put Ba on the bench­ in any match! This is not a time to perform any stupid­ experiment! Iniesta and Messi will always feature in­ any Barca match and will play full 90 mins, regardless­ of whichever team they're playing because they are­ invaluable and almost indispensable! It has been­ noticed oftentimes that if Mata is not included in the­ starting line-up or as soon as he is removed from any­ of our matches, the midfield collapses immediately and­ the eventual result is regrettably dismal! Please stop­ all these annoying, fruitless, senseless experiments­ and adopt a pragmatic result-oriented technique! Kill­ sentiments, take the plunge and do what's­ plausible! WE NEED RESULT, POSITIVE RESULT!

    From McYinks, on Thu 31 Jan 19:39

  3. Plse tell me if u were a fan of chelsea residing in­ Africa like me and after watching the match for­ 80minutes and then u say to ur self. `` I can now go­ and sleep for we have won the match only to be stunned­ in the the morning `` with this caption from a News­ Paper `` COME BACK READING STUNNED CHELSEA`` What will­ u do and this is not the only match . PLSE BENITEZ AND­ TORRES SHOULD GO.I WILL ONLY WATCH CHELSEA WHEN­ SOMEBODY WILL TELL ME THAT THIS TWO SPANIARDS ARE GONE.

    From roger, on Thu 31 Jan 16:18

  4. I'm a Man Utd fan but I think Rafa is a decent­ manager, not better than Di Matteo though. But there is­ too much pressure from Abramovich to play Torres.. He­ just can't accept that he has wasted 50£M on a bad­ player. Chelsea should just ditch Torres and buy a good­ in and out striker.

    From Urbanedragoon, on Thu 31 Jan 13:11

  5. RAFA never listen, why played torres instead of Ba.­ Another horrible result and wasted points.. sack rafa

    From lesley, on Thu 31 Jan 12:22

  6. Benitez can be as perplexed as he wants. Born a Clown,­ will die a Clown. RA get rid of him and bring back RDM

    From Alan, on Thu 31 Jan 11:56

  7. A lost victory, undone goals, vain regrets, faded hopes­ and subtracted 3 points. 19-placed Reading taught­ Chelsea lessons of football.

    From Amir, on Thu 31 Jan 9:33

  8. Its look okward for Rafael Benitez to allowwd Torres to­ start the match instead of BA to start. Is it because­ Torres is his former player in Liverpool or wat, better­ Chelsea Management work on this Guy of giving the­ liability man to start the game. I really very sad­ when seeing Torres starting the game, i feel very bad­ becoz Torres nowdays is not doing like b4 Fernando­ Torres and Rafael Benitez out from Chelsea club. Please­ Mr. Roman Ibrahimovic, can work on these two guyz­ seriously, if you don't see them properly they will­ brings Chelsea to an end

    From Oboch, on Thu 31 Jan 7:52

  9. For God Sake, Find a new Keeper fast

    From Xtra Otis, on Thu 31 Jan 7:30

  10. If Torres and Benitez do not leave Chelsea then be­ ready see Chelsea not even playing the Champions league­ next year. We thought Demba Ba has come to replace­ Torres but the contrary still holds.

    From roger, on Thu 31 Jan 6:41

  11. rafael out.......!!!! Torres Stay at Stamford.....

    From Ivy, on Thu 31 Jan 6:16

  12. Rafa n torres are the best 4 chelsea

    From Melmerv, on Thu 31 Jan 2:31

  13. Once again its time for Chelsea fans to blame Tores and­ Rafa.... Hahahahaha !!

    From Srawut, on Thu 31 Jan 0:28

  14. surley it's time for a change...rafa must go­ he's been in charge for two months, talk about over­ staying your welcome...if you are chelsea fc

    From Paudge8, on Wed 30 Jan 23:39

  15. why oh why does that prat keep playing torres, he­ clearly is useless, a total waste of 50 million, and no­ way capable of helping chelsea gain points, the goal­ scorer was sitting on the bench again, the one they­ bought cheap for only 7 million, made is debut and­ scored 2, 2 more then torres, come on rafa play BA you­ might just catch up with the leaders, carry on the way­ you are going, READING might end up above you in the­ table. Oh dont forget, put JT back in the squad he is­ better on the pitch then sitting on the bench and he­ can score goals to

    From Stephen, on Wed 30 Jan 23:23

  16. When you think of the great managers chelsea have had­ that have been sacked and now we are stuck with this­ useless fat cant of a waiter its really quite­ pathetic.

    From delazzuro, on Wed 30 Jan 23:03

  17. this fat silly idiot has continued to waste chelsea­ resources again!

    From dotun, on Wed 30 Jan 22:44

  18. RAFA MUST STAY!

    From sidewaysbomber, on Wed 30 Jan 22:28

  19. I clearly stated that Benitez was going to truncate­ today's match against Reading with his choice of­ Torres against BA. My prediction has come true. The­ irony is that Chelsea's Management has wilfully­ allowed Benitez to drag Chelsea to the mud. It must be­ said that Torres has no business in the team but­ Benitez has remained adamant. What is the use bringing­ BA on in injury time when the deed was already done?

    From Akingo, on Wed 30 Jan 22:25

  20. No fluke Reading have the ability to get results late­ on they never give up.

    From MARTIN, on Wed 30 Jan 22:23
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